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Just Wretched

By JOHN LINDSAY
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
We've all had that dream -- the one where you're back in high school or college and you're late for a midterm exam and haven't studied at all.
Well, we had one last week, forgetting about our annual mid-term conference-by-conference grades. Just call them the "Six-Week Warnings."Southeastern (B+): Yes, the SEC is on top, but not by the margin its often-obnoxious fans think. The trio of No. 3 LSU, No. 9 Florida and No. 14 Kentucky is just enough to keep the Dixie Boys on top. The rest of the league is a bunch of questions (Alabama, which lost to Georgia, which lost to Tennessee, which got hammered by Cal and Alabama). Even gritty Auburn has to live with a home loss to Mississippi State, which is nothing compared to South Carolina's clunker at home to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Points also deducted for the laughable non-conference schedules of Arkansas (North Texas, Chattanooga, Florida International) and Vandy (Richmond, Eastern Michigan, Miami of Ohio).Pac-10 (B): The Surfer Boys are the only league with three schools (No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Arizona State and No. 9 Southern Cal) in the top 10 this week. If Stanford (3-4) hadn't stunned the Trojans or No. 18 Cal (5-2) crumbled, the Pac-10 might be on top. But underachievers like leader UCLA (awful losses to Utah and Notre Dame) and just plain bad teams like Arizona, Washington and Washington State (combined 6-16) are too much to overcome.Big East (B-): Excellent parity (West Virginia, South Florida and Rutgers all ranked and, combined with lurking Cincinnati, the four are 23-4) with only two schools (Syracuse and Pitt) with losing records is impressive. Louisville a disappointing 4-4 and some puzzling non-conference losses (Rutgers to Maryland, Pitt to Navy, Connecticut to Virginia, Louisville to Utah) is not. Look for West Virginia to run the table and win the league.Big 12 (B-): Again, 12 teams and only two losers (Iowa State and Baylor) is fine. But is anybody other than No. 4 Oklahoma really good? Second best will be whoever wins the Kansas-Missouri showdown Nov. 24. The mess at Nebraska is appalling. The worst non-conference gaffe is Oklahoma State losing to Troy, not counting A&M coach Dennis Franchione's pay-for-info Web site scheme. The explosive offenses of Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas and Kansas State will cause foes problems come bowl time.ACC (C+): Non-conference woes (no-shows by Va. Tech at LSU and Miami at Oklahoma, Atlantic leader Virginia's loss at Wyoming, N.C. State to Central Florida, North Carolina to East Carolina) drag the hoopsters down. Boston College (7-0) hardly looks like the No. 2 team in the land and is sure to plummet Thursday night in Blacksburg. Florida State and Miami are a combined 9-6, proving there are no sure things in expansion.Big Ten (C): Embarrassed by Appalachian State and humiliated by Oregon, Michigan is still a Big Ten title contender. That tells you all you need to know about the league. Maybe we'll finally find out about No. 1 Ohio State (8-0) after Saturday's trip to puzzling No. 24 Penn State. This much we do know: Iowa and Minnesota have lost to wretched Iowa State and I-AA North Dakota State, respectively, while Northwestern is the only D-I team since 2004 to lose to Duke. And did we mention how overrated Wisconsin and Purdue are? Thank goodness for plucky Indiana and Illinois.WAC (C-): Gifted Hawaii QB Colt Brennan is a hoot to watch, while Boise State is proving it is much more than a Cinderella. Fresno State (5-2) will be a tough out in a bowl for somebody. But when the rest of the league (San Jose State, New Mexico State, Nevada, Louisiana Tech, Idaho and Utah State) is a combined 8-16 outside the conference, it's hard to beat your chest much.Mountain West (C-): Air Force (6-2) has been a great surprise, TCU (4-4) somewhat of a disappointment. Leader BYU (5-2) lost a 55-47 defense-optional shootout at Tulsa. Colorado State broke a 13-game losing streak with a 48-23 romp at UNLV on Saturday. The MWC did go 3-1 in bowls last year and needs to do that again.Conference USA (D): Little more than a punching bag for BCS schools. Twelve teams and only Southern Miss and Houston (last year's C-USA title game participants) and maybe Tulsa (4-3) are even respectable. And now there's the Curse of McConaughey. Since the movie "We Are Marshall" was released last December starring the hunky Matthew, the Thundering Herd (0-7) hasn't won a game.Mid-American (D-): Remember when the MAC used to scare the big boys with talented quarterbacks and solid teams? Not so much anymore. It's so bad that newcomer Temple has won three consecutive league games. That's one fewer than the Owls had won the past four years. Buffalo also has three MAC wins, matching its overall total from 2005-06. Yikes!Sun Belt (D-): Troy's upset of Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic over Minnesota keeps this backwater from an F according to ISUfan22. It's 19 losses in a row for Florida International, longest in the nation.

Re: Just Wretched

Anyone catch the reference to ISUfan22? Is this for real?

Sun Belt (D-): Troy's upset of Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic over Minnesota keeps this backwater from an F according to ISUfan22. It's 19 losses in a row for Florida International, longest in the nation.

Re: Just Wretched

Originally Posted by abcguyks

Anyone catch the reference to ISUfan22? Is this for real?

Sun Belt (D-): Troy's upset of Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic over Minnesota keeps this backwater from an F according to ISUfan22. It's 19 losses in a row for Florida International, longest in the nation.

No it is not, check the link. Someone must have a man crush. How disturbing.

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.

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